"What?"
"The summer we graduated high school, some of the cows got sick. The milk production slowed, and we didn't realize the cows were sick until it was too late. We ended up losing a few cows. The financial impact was devastating, but my dad was always upbeat and kept saying we'd be fine."
Skyler starts walking again. I keep up the pace right beside him.
"For a while, we were able to cover some bills and the costs of running the farm. Mom took over part of the land to grow vegetables for her pickles and chutneys. She started selling them at the farmer's market on Church Street. We thought we'd get through it, and then after the winter, we'd buy new cows and restart production."
He sighs. "Long story short, my dad is a gambling addict who got us into more debt trying to win money to save the business. The whole thing nearly broke us. In the end, he agreed to speak to a therapist about his addiction and let me take over the accounts for the business. I had no clue what I was doing…"
"And that's when you grew up," I finish for him.
"Yeah."
"I'm really sorry, Skyler. I know you had so many dreams," I say.
Skyler's eyes are piercing as he stares at me.
"How about you? You said you lost everything," he prompts.
"It's a lame story. How about this? I went to one of the toughest culinary schools in the world, but no one took me seriously because I was the fat, lazy American," I say, raising my hands to do the quote sign with my fingers. "Yup, Europeans think very highly of us. To be fair, Iwasfat, so they weren't entirely wrong."
"Jud—"
"Nope, no interruptions, this is my turn. So anyway. I developed a crush on this guy in my class, Pierre. He’s half-British, half-French. The perfect mix of self-deprecating and arrogant. Deadly."
Skyler chuckles.
"It took me a year to lose my weight and feel comfortable enough to buy new clothes and find a little bit of confidence. He noticed and asked me out. Fast forward five years, and we open a restaurant together in one of Paris's upcoming areas. Upcoming enough that we got a lot of attention, but not upcoming enough that we couldn't afford the rent if you know what I mean."
"You have a restaurant?" Skyler asks.
"Had."
"Sorry."
I shrug. "Last month we had a particularly busy time, which also coincided with a change of the menu. I always put in more hours because I liked to research local suppliers and put together interesting and innovative menus."
"It must have been stressful," he says.
"It was, but I loved it. Anyway, Pierre insisted we needed at least one night off to rest, but since the restaurant was busy, we took it in turns. He ended up catching a cold and stayed home a few extra nights.
"I don't like where this is going," Skyler says.
I purse my lips and nod. "One night, we had a particularly slow evening, so I decided to go home to keep him company. I worked most of the night, but as soon as I felt it was safe to go, I went home. I caught him in our bed with the sous chef who was also off that night because I was working."
"Fuck."
"I went to stay with a friend, but working alongside Pierre was a nightmare. After being caught, he was shameless about flirting with the other guy in front of everyone. It was embarrassing."
"Why didn't you leave?"
"Pierre's family has money, and they helped us get the restaurant started. I invested my savings into the restaurant. I couldn't just leave."
Skyler frowned as if to say,but you're here now.
"We were visited by a food critic. He's one of the most respected food critics because no one knows what he looks like. He picks random restaurants and dines like any other person. There's no way to prepare for his visit, so we had to be on point all the time." Well, there were ways to find out, but I'd been tired and distracted. "One of the kitchen assistants saw the review from the critic. It was the kind of review that can destroy someone's career. I don't know when he visited the restaurant. If I was cooking or if it was the night I left early, but it doesn't matter. I was the head chef. It was my kitchen. Pierre blamed me for everything. He said our reputation was ruined. No one would ever want to dine with us."
Skyler's laugh makes me look at him. "That's a bit dramatic, isn't it?"
